Indian cricket fans are furious with the white-ball performances of the team in the last couple of years. The team hit a new low on Sunday when they lost against West Indies in the second T20I to concede a 0-2 lead in the three-match series in the Caribbean.
From urging the Indian team management to stop experimenting with the playing XIs to pointing out T20I skipper Hardik Pandya's bizarre statements on the team's flop shows, fans and pundits are pointing out how nothing is going right for the Men in Blue in the white-ball formats.
Pandya once said during a post-match presentation that "we can pick two more teams and win any competition in the world."
India's record since Hardik Pandya's statement
Ever since Pandya made this statement, Team India failed to qualify for the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final, lost their first World Cup match against Pakistan by 10 wickets in last year's T20 WC, lost an ODI series in Bangladesh last year, lost the ODI series on home soil against Australia in March, lost an ODI gainst the West Indies with 10-plus overs left for the first time since 2009 and were defeated by the Windies in two T20Is in a row for the first time in history.
Hardik Pandya's captaincy came under scrutiny once again in the second T20I against the Windies when he didn't bowl Yuzvendra Chahal in the death overs despite the leg-spinner bringing Indian back into the match with two wickets in the 16th over.
India made a remarkable comeback thanks to Chahal's third over as he left the Windies reeling at 129 for 8, still needing 24 runs from the final four overs with just two wickets in hand.
Pandya's captaincy mistakes exploited by West Indies
But Pandya, for some strange reason, took Chahal out of the attack and brought Arshdeep Singh from the end which the leg-spinner was operating from but paid a heavy price for it as the left-arm seamer conceded 9 runs from the 18th over.
Pandya could have still given the ball to Chahal in the penultimate over but didn't and saw Mukesh Kumar getting smashed for the final 12 runs required for the Windies to win the match with an over to spare.
Pandya later blamed the batters for the defeat but it was a collective failure of the captain, coach and the players which led to another disappointment for this young Indian T20I squad which is filled with stars of the future.
But the inexperience of playing as a unit in international cricket is clearly showing and also being exploited by opposition teams.
